Is this project still alive?

Hi guys,

How about those updates? Is the project still going?

Kind regards,
Rein

The European Parliament Free Software User Group invites FreedomBox

http://epfsug.eu/content/epfsug-invites-freedombox

Time: 10h00-12h00 Wednesday 7 September 2011 (download to your agenda)
Location: Room PHS 4 B001 (Building Paul-Henri Spaak, 4th floor, room B001)
Registration: If you don't have a badge, please mail that you are coming to epfsug@epfsug.eu (open registration), otherwise no registration necessary.

@Christian Gunning, as an outsider to the OLPC project the ad-hoc networking in Sugar looks outstanding to me. I've been looking into the underlying technology a bit. You make reference to a lesson learned, but I've never read any critiques of their software stack anywhere (just their distribution model / overall project goals). I'd really appreciate if you could enlighten me with some links?

@James Vasile, we're invited on the project home page to "keep pledging and keep giving" - sorry if this is a daft question but how does one do that now that the big green Back This Project button is gone?

Thanks, everybody for your support. We're going to use your pledges to found this project properly, keep building our team and establish infrastructure to make this effort run smoothly and transparently.

If you haven't already, come check us out at FreedomBoxFoundation.org!

The new linux kernel includes the B.A.T.M.A.N. mesh protocol: "an alias for "Better Approach To Mobile Adhoc Networking". An ad hoc network is a decentralized network that does not rely on a preexisting infrastructure, such as routers in wired networks or access points in managed (infrastructure) wireless networks."

I urge the FreedomBox developers to heed the cautionary tale of OLPC's experience with sugar -- time spent re-writing basic tool stacks detracts from the overall mission/goal.

It's amazing that the modern hardware/software toolstack has developed to the point that this is a very viable project, and not a moment too soon!

Democracy should not depend on centralised systems like facebook and twitter, I am a supporter.

freedom isn't free - i'm backin' it

Time to disenfranchise states and corporations on the internet.

Great project, guys - create a great debian-based system ready for every user :-). I'll set it up as soon as it's available :-).

I agree w/ most of the posts on here. I watch the news and what has been going on around the world and feel that "The Freedom Box" is the next step against "Big Brother" prying eyes and their "Internet Kill Switch". I am grateful for catching the short piece on channel 6 news at 3 am and am jumping in w/ both feet. Big thank you to Eben Moglen and his team. Keep up the fight for freedom!

What a great project and in many ways, an absolute necessity!

We launch on International Women's Day, March 8, and will be featuring your product!

<a href="http://anonymissexpress.wordpress.com">&lt;
img src="http://anonymissexpress.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/anonymissexpress.jpg…; alt="Freedom Box project, you are well worth it in Anonymiss Express books!">We launch on International Women's Day, March 8, and will be featuring your product!

You are right John. And Eben Moglen is clear about it. This recent talk will soon be in our chidren's history textbooks: http://dcc.ufmg.br/~lcerf/Eben_Moglen_-_Navigating_the_Age_of_Democratized_Media.ogg

I've no disagreement with anything said here. What I would suggest is that - Capture this moment of history, within your hearts. Know that what is about to transpire here is as important as the American Revolution which we WILL WIN! This is indeed a profound Moment of Truth, make no mistake about it! I wish I had the talent of so many here. I used too, in my technological time and space. I envy the technically current who will engage in this struggle and win! All I have is money to give, but I wish I was still a software master, as I once was, a long time ago!

This will work! You will win! Never doubt that for a moment, please,

Warmest - Take No Prisoners, John T. Stanton, Geezer-Geek

This effort is very similar in many ways to Amahi http://www.amahi.org (disclaimer, I am in the core team of Amahi). Amahi does not have those exact goals, however, FreedomBox could easily use Amahi as a platform, since it's open source. And it runs on Plug Computers already http://wiki.amahi.org/index.php/Amahi_Plug_Edition ... we're getting in touch with the FreedmBox team!

This is a great idea, and one that I and I'm sure many others have been kicking around while watching recent developments. There's no doubt a mesh net. will not replace internet, but there are a lot of services it can offer - from cloud type services (replication of data or messages to other devices) or providing limited, or delayed, transmission in areas where otherwise no transmission would be available. I am sure once something like started being deployed all kinds of crazy tools would pop up.

I agree with most of what is being said in favour of the project. I believe I understand all the important technological issues which will be involved and that most of the necessary components already exist, or are at least in development.
I think for some of the finer aspects, we will need to create some new software, but I agree in particular with Chip's statement "To make this work. we need some ATTITUDE !".
This is an open source effort - if it has enough support, it will become what we need it to be and judging by the well over 500 financial backers in only 5 days, I would say we are well on track for that :) .

I am seeing a lot of scepticism around various places on the net and most of it seems to stem from people being badly informed or having unrealistic expectations. In particular, people appear to expect this box to become a complete second internet infrastructure.
That is, of course, rather silly. The point is not to create a whole new internet, but to take back the existing one. We can use local mesh networking and that will be a great benefit. However, we cannot replace e.g. transatlantic cables. In many places, we won't even be able to bridge the gap to the next town! The project is not a magical cure - it is about bringing freedom to the internet and doing **the best we can** when powers try to censor, control and disconnect us - *even* when they go as far as shutting down the net. It is about using the existing technologies and bringing together the existing *and* new software, necessary to make the most of today's hardware, in the interest of freedom.

A *lot* is possible and I believe that includes all of the stated goals, including freedom on the (existing) internet, by regaining possession and control over *our* personal data and the protection of free communication and thus free speech. The ability to uphold some communication cheaply, in serious scenarios where the internet has been disabled, is an added bonus and speaks for the dedication and breadth of the project. Moreover, if better technological solutions for transmitting data in no-internet scenarios become available, then I am confident that they can (and thus will) be adopted by the project.

Well, that's my view anyway. Great project and not at all too soon!

@aharon I fail to understand your point. An adhoc/mesh network is a "real network". Take the Cairo people. Being able to communicate with the other inhabitants of in the city is a must to organize actions. You do not necessarily need Internet to do so.

The freedombox certainly does not aim at being an ISP because being an ISP is not a developer work. It is a service that is bound with legal obligations, which are different in every country.

And, yes, the freedombox may "only" be the sum of its parts... and that would already be great! That would mean a device that you only have to plug to profit from all these parts. Nick has already explained that very clearly.

Success is never gaurantied. When I hear people say something like " Failure is not an option" , I laugh. It is not only an option, but it is the default setting !
To make this work. we need some ATTITUDE ! There are many unanswered questions, and answering the unanswerable is what most of us do for a living.
This is a noble idea, and a worthwhile project.
I'm all in.

Of great value? http://gigaom.com/2011/02/17/building-the-technology-stack-for-internet-freedom/

@Loïc Cerf as you and jabjoe say "It all seams to be taking what is already there, organize it and making it easy." "it meshes a few existing techs". In general Debian does not create software but rather combines what already exists into a distro, so in this way freedombox will be in the Debian tradition. Freedombox will collect together and integrate a stack of software so that it "just works" out of the box. The goal is to "put freedom in new things, spread those things around the world, and turn freedom on." Not "to find search for freedom here there and everywhere then hack it to work, spend ages configuring it and tuen non techs off" :)

As for "migrating people from google". As I understand it, overcoming the technical challenges of distributed search is a way off yet so Google is safe for the foreseeable future.

@Loïc Cerf
Thanks for your thoughts.
Re decentralised network. Yes, I can see that that is an aim, however if a. you need something like current ISP structure to hook into the net at large, or b. have a town/city confined decentralisation with the possibility of a handful of net hooks - what you get is a virtual distributed network, not a real one.
Regarding content ownership. This can work only if you get the kind of tools that people are happy to develop for and use. It means migrating people from youtube, google, facebook, etc.. There's a whole and very large ecosystem that you want to move into freedombox for it to deliver its premise rather than being a feelgood attempt.
Personally, it seems that from the current look of the project, it meshes a few existing techs, and seems to luck something that will make that mesh more than the sum of its parts. Its a good idea, but some thing/s is/are missing.

@kenwalker I wanted to contribute from Canada, too, but got sent to Amazon. Amazon?

To support this project takes me to Kickstarter and from there to Amazon which wants to know what US state my Canadian town is in. I am resisting being offended but regardless, wasn't able to contribute.

I already own a SheevaPlug, had it for over a year. Been doing much of this stuff with Debian most of the time already. Before the SheevaPlug there was NSLU2 and many people just use a PC. Leave what ever machine it is on, setup DynDNS and forward the ports you want, then run what ever you want (apache/ssh/n2n-supernode) listening to those ports.
What I see the project adding is making these kind of feature many of us nerds have, easy enough for anyone, synchronising between friends/family for backup (band width issues?) and by the sound of it some kind of mesh networking a bit like AllJoyn. Plus maybe organse into some kind of decentralise Facebook darknet.
It all seams to be taking what is already there, organize it and making it easy.

@aharon Well, as far as I understand, the freedombox will be connected to your modem (like your laptop) AND be able of mesh networking what would be particularly useful if your ISP becomes a censor or simply disconnect you from the net. Indeed, assuming there are enough freedomboxes in your city, you will still be able to communicate with them and you may even have an Internet connection in this way (if one of the freedomboxes still has it).

Furthermore, anonymity is not the only goal. The idea is foremost to have a decentralized network. That means you will plug a non-volatile support (a disk, a USB key, etc.) to your freedom box and your data (blog, photos, videos, etc.) will be there. Not on Facebook/Google/Twitter's computers. And the software using them will be pre-installed in the freedombox.

Am feeling a bit sceptically about this project. Some of my worries overlap a few prior comments, am repeating as answers do not seem full:

* If a freedombox is connected to the net via a "normal" ISP, how will others know the IP address given most people are on dynamic IPs services?
* To make freedombox usage relevant to the goals, even if current ISP tools can not interrogate the data very well, experience tells us that such tools can be developed when needed.
* To make freedombox usage worth its while, there is a need for a critical mass, else it might be destined to marginal life of efforts such as darknet, etc..
- are you talking about a project which will in a sense just anonymise people from facebook/google/etc, or will have support its own content production platforms?
* It sounds like freedombox will support local mesh networks. In the risk of being naive here, if such boxes do not - or can not - provide p2p ISP function, is it not running a real possibility of being an interesting but rather eccentric tool?

I do think it is a good, possibly great idea - which is why am looking fwd hearing having my somehow anxious questions answered..

I have rather big concerns about using Amazon as intermediary, but I donated something from my meagre budget anyways. This is a great project imho :)

When fbx is done, we can make telekompinnen: http://euwiki.org/Propensities/Free_Infrastructure

The Feel: Exactly like a normal USB-memory stick:
* Plug it in => Share your connectivity
* Un-plug => Restore your connectivity

Nice splash screen on the page above.

I'm an old programmer, I wrote the operating system for the first battery powered abacus, let's get this thing going !!!

Hi, im a software developer based in Nairobi,kenya - me and my partners have been toying around with the plug and trying to figure out various options of how we can use the plug as a solution for various needs. Right now we are working with one of the manufacturers though we havent gone far - but our main goal is to have a plug with a 3G sim card. that alone will solve the connectivity issue which is key, i think to the plugs success.

re:Carsten Ullrich:
Right - not everyone has a credit-card...

You should really add another way to donate than Amazon, regarding how they behaved with Wikileaks.

re:Matthew Downs. It's won't just be a mesh networking device, it will have mesh networking but it will not be P2P mesh alone it will be a whole stack of integrated services; encryption / data storage / p2p / VoIP and whatever else you need running on it . The job of each Freedom box will be to interconnect it's local network, either through the net or a local mesh, to other freedom boxes. These machines will all be pears with no central log, for the likes of facebook to sell or the NSA to subpoena. Yes ISPs will still be needed and will probably continue to use deep packet inspection to try to see what is flowing though their networks but if a government wants to throw the kill switch on the internet (as egypt did) then the mesh will still be up and the network will still function.
P.S. A second plug for http://vimeo.com/20034456 which says it all better that I could.

A Video of Eben Moglen's talk
"Why Political Liberty Depends on Software Freedom More Than Ever"
@ FOSDEM 2011
--> http://videobin.org/+3o4/3zo.html

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is a P2P wireless mesh, no? How does the network make the jump from P2P to getting to the internet? Are you not still relying ultimately on an ISP? Regardless, it's a good idea that's worth some of my money - in fact, I believe that's true even disregarding any specific political or economic outcome. So, in summary, (^_^)d

Make with the wikis and the git repos and VM images, and let's get cracking!

I would like to contribute, also have an Amazon Account witch I often use, but only in Germany. I can´t select my regular payment method through my bank account. I never pay via Credit Cards, because I hate them! ;-) Please, can you add some other payment methods like Paypal, or clickandbuy?

Nick, thanks for that! I'll be sending it around.

nick, if you can get it down to 30 seconds + the Kickstart URL, and all of the content is sufficiently-licensed, someone might consider using Google Ads (I know, keep reading...) to air it as TV adverts during late-night Glenn Beck re-runs or something, just like these guys did in their experiment: http://www.slatev.com/video/how-i-ran-ad-fox-news/